Influence style and students’ orientation toward extracurricular activities: an application of the correspondence hypothesis

A recently formulated correspondence hypothesis states that influence style effectiveness depends on how it fits in with the communication contract activated in the context of influence: almost symmetrical relationships require respectful styles, while authoritarian styles are more effective when the social distance between the influence source and its targets is higher. The hypothesis was applied here to the negotiation of innovative practices in educational settings. In a 2 (message style: authoritarian vs. democratic) x 2 (targets position: not orientated vs. already orientated toward the suggested activity) experimental design, 129 university students were presented with a bogus request, attributed to their Faculty teaching staff, to participate in an extra-curricular activity. Dependent measures included direct agreement on the usefulness of the activity, and a change in the declared intention to participate in it. Results partially confirm the hypothesis, as a democratic style induces more direct agreement with the source than the authoritarian one, when the targets were already orientated toward the activity; a complementary effect emerges, that is the authoritarian style, more than the democratic one, increases the intention to participate in the activity by students who were not previously orientated in this direction.